How To Get Free Products To Review - A Canadian Guide
I often get asked how do I get so much free stuff. The truth is I do get a fair amount of PR samples just because I have been blogging for so long. I started my blog in 2009 and have been relatively consistent ever since then about blogging and therefore companies have approached me about featuring products. But if you're not a blogger? That doesn't necessarily stop you from getting free products to try out. Today I'm going to talk about the ways that non-bloggers can get some free products to try out, right here in Canada.
*Update* As of spring 2022, ChickAdvisor/Family Rated/XY Rated sample clubs have all been moved to one new platform, Butterly.com.
I have been a member of Chick Advisor since 2006 (see my profile here), so I have reviewed oh so many things, but the best may have been a Clarisonic Mia 2.
Up next is TopBox Circle. TopBox is known as a Canadian beauty subscription box, but they also run TopBox Circle, a tester site. All you have to do to join is head on over to the site and fill out a survey. With TopBox Circle you won't always get emails for surveys, so just pop in as frequently as you can remember to see if some new ones are on the site.
Finally, the big name in sampling is Influenster. This one is American but expanded to Canada quite a few years back. With Influenster you get a whole site and app. It's all articles and reviews and even Q&A, so very interactive.
With them, you get sent surveys and if you get chosen products will get sent to you. You'll have specific tasks and if you do all of them you will then get a badge. Sometimes if you complete everything you can be entered into a draw to win a prize.
Early on I got a lot of VoxBoxes from them and even won the prizes. That being said often prizes never showed up and they washed their hands of it and me. Now that more people are subscribed to Influnster I get far fewer VoxBoxes. If you want to increase your odds, start writing reviews. I say this because I have been sent survey emails based on reviews I have previously done. So stay active and you might get more offers.
I have gotten a wide range of things over the years I have been a member of Influenster but the most memorable might be a Keurig 2.0 and Bite Beauty products. Check out my profile here.
Sampler is a way to try all sorts of things! From teas and cleaners to beauty products galore. I've tried pasta and curry as well as gotten coupons for various household things. Most of the beauty products will be deluxe sample to try out, but it is a great way to try out new products and brands. Head on over to www.sampler.io where you can join programs by different brands and get sent samples monthly in exchange for survey reviews of the products.
**Update: As of Summer 2024, Sampler is no longer operating. They filed for bankruptcy.
What to expect with this one, everything from Nicorette, snack bars, floor cleaner to dry shampoo this year. There are usually lots of coupons too for either large amounts off or for free products.
So what can you expect from these? Anything from a coupon for margarine to deodorant. I've gotten mascara from Marc Jacobs to a Keurig. Sometimes you might get food like barbecue sauce and sometimes you might get household stuff like I'm going to mop. Either way, the products you get will be determined by the surveys. if you're not interested you don't have to apply but if you do apply you do have to do the task or you might get penalized and blacklisted going forward. So if you get the products, review them or you may never get anything more.
It is also helpful to remember there may be dry spells. I honestly didn't get anything from Chick Advisor, TopBox Circle or Influsneter for 9 months. Right now I have 4 TopBox, a Chick Advisor and a Family Rated all going on at the same time. So be patient, it will pay off.
*Products featured in this post were given to me for review purposes through the mentioned programs. All views and opinions are my own.
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